Columns

This morning, while up to my elbows in potato yeast dough, a voice calling my name came through my opened screen door. It was my neighbor Heather Boynton. We have this understanding, Heather and I, that ‘mi casa es su casa,’ or, in English:...

This spring, Scotts Valley City Council held public workshops to discuss the City’s long-standing strategic goals. City Manager Mali LaGoe led the Council through a series of questions and discussion topics to update and prioritize staff’s focus to achieve the listed goals. Metrics were...

Alaska, where the Crows created the world And the Ravens brought the sunlight - Native quote I have been in Alaska and my hometown of Aberdeen, Washington for the past two weeks and my traveling shoes are beginning to show serious wear, not to mention wear on...

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it solely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. - Mark Twain While taking my ‘traveling...

Promoted as a “Satire of Innocence, Optimism and the Unexpected Lessons of Life,” Cabrillo Stage’s adaptation of Voltaire’s “Candide” is a glorious conglomeration of the very best that local theater has to offer. Incredibly funny, fast-paced and thoroughly engaging, the comical operetta grips the...

Across the world and here in Scotts Valley, people’s paychecks are being stretched like never before. With U.S. inflation running at its highest rate in the last 40 years, virtually everything requires more money—bacon now costs what steak used to, eggs are approaching $5...

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” - Theodore Roosevelt I know exactly the time and date and where it was that I realized I was aging.   It was on my 50th birthday. I sitting at my dressing table when I discovered my first grey hair on...

With the recent tragic shootings across the Nation including Uvalde Texas, there is encouragement with the historic bipartisan action taken by Congress. It’s been challenging to balance an individual’s 2nd Amendment rights while protecting public safety. Recent action taken by Congress will make a...

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased  at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!   I know not course others may take, but as for me,   give me liberty or give me death!” - Founding father Patrick Henry                    While riding in...

When you think of superheroes’ characteristics, what comes to mind? You might think they have superpowers and they fight against oppression and wrongdoing. But in business today, just being fair is nothing compared to having the ability to lead and engage others to become their...